""This car strikes the right balance between modern style and restraint.""

It’s really, really hard to hold onto things when you’re wearing mittens. Things like key fobs. We dropped our 2014 Kia Cadenza’s key fob, and it broke into three pieces. We had to not only replace the broken key fob but also pay to have it and our spare fob reprogrammed at the dealership, and that cost us $259.13. Ouch. To make the best of a bad situation, we got the Kia’s first, factory-scheduled service out of the way while the keys were being reprogrammed. An oil change and a visual inspection cost us $34.48, a far more reasonable figure.

We’ll try not to drop the fob again, and it should be easier now that spring has sprung and we’ve shoved our mittens into a dark corner of the closet. To celebrate the end of the worst winter we can remember, we had the Kia Cadenza’s stock, all-season Hankook Optimo H426 swapped back on to the car. Then we parked it behind our building, hooked up our hose, and started scrubbing. Staring at a sparkly clean Kia Cadenza, associate web editor Eric Weiner said, “This car strikes the right balance between modern style and restraint. It’s simple and inoffensive inside and out, but that black-and-chrome grille adds the right dose of personality.”

“The Cadenza looks and feels more expensive that it is,” added managing editor of digital platforms, Jen Misaros. “I think that’s why each time I get into it I instinctively reach for an iDrive-like controller for the infotainment system. But the Cadenza gets by just fine without it. In fact, it gets high marks for its intuitive controls and ease of use.”

The Kia Cadenza has garnered a lot of positive comments, although associate editor Greg Migliore dinged the 3.3-liter V-6—“it sure is thirsty”—after he burned through a quarter a tank during his daily commute. As summertime road trips start, we doubt that frequent fuel fill-ups will keep us from putting more miles on the Cadenza, one of the most likeable cars in our Four Seasons fleet.

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